Chiang Mai, Thailand

Imagine a one-acre mud pit filled with feces and urine, walled-in by a haphazard two-story tenement stifled not only by a tropical sun, but by the stench and body heat of over 1,000 dogs, 300 cats, a handful of rabbits and a couple of pigs.

Imagine living there and spending your days covered in filth, sweating your way through the never-ending task of simply trying to keep footpaths clear of excrement, removing dead animals and fending off the inevitable dog attack. And imagine at least once a week, stepping outside the walls to see yet another expecting bitch abandoned at the gate.

This is not a horrible nightmare for two middle-aged women, Sunnee ‘Lek’ Sukkaew and Pataew ‘Taew’ Wanitsuto, who have spent the past years earning less than THB200 ($6.45 USD) a day struggling to keep the chaos at Dog Condo to a minimum—this is their reality.

On 2nd September, the police received a report from the Chiang Mai Tourist Police that two South Korean men named Kim Man Se and Park Jong Min had been found in a state of exhaustion. The two men had escaped from Jun Tae Hun who had trafficked them from South Korea and forced them to work in a house on the Irrigation Canal Road.

Jun Tae Hun, the imprisoned men told police, threatened them by slitting dogs’ throats with a knife, and warning the men that if they did not follow his orders they would receive the same treatment. Jun Tae Hun also confiscated the men’s passport and did not allow them to go outside the house.

The police received confirmation to raid the house from the municipality court. On arrival at the property the accused man had disappeared. At the back of the house, the police found many dog corpses with severed heads. The police already knew the house had been used by South Korean people as an internet gambling den. The internet server and the account were in Thailand, the account had a cash flow of over one million baht. The police found out that Jun Tae Hun had been accused of internet fraud and illegal internet gambling in South Korea. Jun Tae Hun was eventually arrested at Don Jan Big C branch on 6th September.

The police told the media that Jun Tae Hun had rented the house for 25,000 baht a month, and used it as an internet gambling hub. He had recruited South Korean workers from South Korea, but was deceptive as to what type of employment they would actually do in Thailand. The workers had been forced to work without any rest or sleep for long periods of time. Jun Tae Hun was reported as being aggressive and controlling.

The police said there is still a man missing who was forced into work named Dee Kua Yong (aged 21) he has not yet been found and the police are unsure if he is dead or alive.

CityNews today received information about how Thailand Pet Rescue are working in hard to stopping the trade of dog meat. Panaree Cotchacote and her team of volunteers from Thailand Pet Rescue (TPRC) rescue dogs everyday from certain death – but there’s evidence thousands of dogs are slipping into the illegal dog meat trade because authorities aren’t enforcing the law.

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Panaree knows that the few ‘lucky ones’that survive the journey are often tortured before they are killed. Traders believe that meat is more tender if more pain is inflicted.

But border provinces can put a stop to the “disgusting” dog meat trading by enforcing the law. That’s why Panaree has started a petition asking Governors of Nakhon Phanom and Sakon Nakhon to stamp out the illegal trade.

In just over two weeks, more than 3,000 people have signed Panaree’s petition -click here to add your voice.

Last year, the former Nakhon Phanom Governor implemented a successful crackdown fining local officials who didn’t enforce the law. But the new Governor let trade run rampant again. Panaree has witnessed first-hand the notorious Ban Phaeng border pier packed with dogs crammed in chicken cages.

When she has gathered 5,000 signatures, Panaree will deliver her petition to the Governors directly. With so many voices behind her, she is confident her trip will get media coverage the Governors can’t ignore.

She asks you to sign now, and share the petition with your friends and family, before more dogs are killed.

The driver, identified as Mr Salut ‘I like poodle, with my noodle’ Kotetakok, 43, was arrested and taken in for questioning.

Nakhon Phanom provincial livestock chief Pairat Pathumsuwan has coordinated with related agencies to distribute the dogs to different locations to avoid overcrowding situations, otherwise the dogs may develop infection or die.

Mr Pairat said that the Nakhon Phanom Animal Quarantine Station was now overcrowded with dogs, as there were 773 dogs in custody after an earlier arrest on July 25, where 548 dogs were rescued from a trafficking ring and sent to the station, and the TOTAL stood at 1,321 dogs.

If 700 dogs were added to this station, that would be more than 2,000 dogs, where the capacity of the facility was only 800-1,000 dogs, he said.

He said that taking care of the rescued canines cost some Bt10,000 a day ($320USD).

Mr Pairat said that dog smuggling was also a problem as dog meat was still popular in some countries and illegal traders were continually trying to smuggle dogs into these countries (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia).

A Huay Yai homeowner has opened the gates of her large home to victims of Bangkok’s flood crisis.

Jongkolnee Jankhet, 47, fled to her Huay Yai residence after her primary house in Bangkok’s Rangsit neighborhood was flooded in mid-October. Realizing government and charity shelters will not take evacuees with pets, she decided throw open the gates of her 3-rai estate to animal lovers in need.

Eight families – 25 people and 120 pets – responded to her ad on a Thai Internet message board. They’re now staying on the first floor of two houses and in an outside sala. Jongkolnee said she is offering them refuge for free.

One of those taking refuge is 67-year-old Wirat Taengngam, his wife and 12 dogs. Water in their Rangsit home was chest deep and he’d planned to rent an apartment in Pattaya, but couldn’t find any that accepted pets. He thanked Jongkolnee for generosity that helped him keep his “family” together.

“I took this job as a Thai who wants to help the homeland country. My job is to assure local and foreign investors on the reconstruction of the country for higher competitiveness. Within a year from now, the confidence will be restored and in five years, there would be no more disaster,” he told reporters after the appointment.

Virabongsa, former deputy prime minister, noted that the disaster is more serious than in 1942 and too serious for any government to handle, given that flood-hit areas contribute one third of the economy and house manufacturing centres.

But although they have been saved from dog-trader gangs, no one can guarantee they will be safe and survive in their crowded cages while a shortage of food threatens their lives.

Some of the animals were reported dead or injured. The rest are at Nakhon Phanom Animal Quarantine Station.

They looked exhausted after they were moved from the small cages to be put in the station’s only big cage. But that cage, which has a maximum capacity of 500 dogs, now has to house 1,800. They have inadequate food and water, as the station does not have the budget to feed such a huge crowd of dogs.

Nakhon Phanom Governor Rerngsak Mahawinijchaimontree said his team cooperated with animal-control staff and police to arrest the gangs on Thursday night.

He said they arrested Montree Thanklang, 45, a Nakhon Phanom resident, and Pan Hai, 30, a Vietnamese, while they were in a truck containing 600 dogs passing through the province’s Na Thom district. Four other trucks containing 1,200 dogs were seized while they travelled through Si Songkhram district, where police arrested Noppadon Chaiwangrot, 40, a Sakon Nakhon resident.

Rerngsak said police were told that Noppadon had earlier released 600 other dogs into a forest.

“Police believe all the dogs would have been transferred to a ship waiting in Ban Phaeng district of Nakhon Phanom before going across the Mekong River to be sold in VIETNAM, where lots of dogs are ordered to be cooked as famous exotic dishes.”